Massachusetts Ban on Aversive Therapy Initiative (2018)
| Massachusetts Ban on Aversive Therapy Initiative | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 6, 2018 | |
| Topic Healthcare | |
| Status Not on the ballot | |
| Type State statute | Origin Citizens |
The Massachusetts Ban on Aversive Therapy Initiative was not on the ballot in Massachusetts as an indirect initiated state statute on November 6, 2018.
The measure would have banned procedures which cause obvious signs of physical pain, such as hitting, pinching, and electric shock, for the purpose of changing the behavior of persons with physical, intellectual, or developmental disabilities.[1]
Text of measure
Petition summary
The petition summary was as follows:[2]
| “ | This proposed law would prohibit the use of any procedure that causes physical pain to a person with a physical, intellectual, or developmental disability for the purpose of changing that person’s behavior. Such procedures, including hitting, pinching, and electric shock, would be prohibited in programs or facilities funded, operated, or approved by the state.
The proposed law would also ban physical contact or punishment that would be prohibited if used on a person without a disability, as well as any procedure that denies reasonable sleep, food, shelter, bedding, bathroom facilities, or other basic needs to a person with a disability. The proposed law would make it a crime for any person to administer or cause to be administered painful electric shocks on a person with a disability. Violations would be punishable by imprisonment in a house of correction for not more than two and one-half years or in the state prison for not more than ten years.[3] |
” |
Full text
The full text of the measure is available here.
Path to the ballot
In Massachusetts, the number of signatures required to place an indirect initiated state statute on the ballot is equal to 3.5 percent of votes cast for governor in the most recent gubernatorial election. The first 3 percent is collected in order to refer the indirect initiative to the Massachusetts General Court. If members of the General Court pass and the governor signs the initiative, then the initiative becomes law. If the legislature declines to act on an initiative or the governor vetoes it, sponsors of the initiative need to collect additional signatures equal to 0.5 percent of the votes cast for governor.
To make the 2018 ballot, sponsors of this initiative needed to collect the first round of 64,750 signatures between September 20, 2017, and November 22, 2017. Petitioners did not submit signatures to the office of the secretary of the commonwealth by the deadline on December 6, 2017. If petitioners had submitted enough signatures and the General Court had rejected or not acted on the initiative by May 2, 2018, then an additional 10,792 signatures would have been required by July 4, 2018.
On September 6, 2017, Attorney General Maura Healey (D) approved the initiative for signature gathering.[2]
See also
Footnotes
- ↑ Massachusetts Secretary of State, "Initiative 17-06," accessed August 3, 2017
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Massachusetts Attorney General, "Petitions Filed," accessed September 7, 2017
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
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